George Henry Lewes Quotes
A man may be variously accomplished, and yet be a feeble poet. All bad Literature rests upon imperfect insight, or upon imitation, which may be defined as seeing at second-hand. All good Literature rests primarily on insight. All great authors are seers. As all Art depends on Vision, so the different kinds of Art depend on the different ways in which minds look at things. Books have become our dearest companions, yielding exquisite delights and inspiring lofty aims. Books minister to our knowledge, to our guidance, and to our delight, by their truth, their uprightness, and their art. Endeavour to be faithful, and if there is any beauty in your thought, your style will be beautiful; if there is any real emotion to express, the expression will be moving. Genius is rarely able to give any account of its own processes. Good writers are of necessity rare. If you feel yourself to be above the mass, speak so as to raise the mass to the height of your argument. Imagination is not the exclusive appanage of artists, but belongs in varying degrees to all men. In all sincere speech there is power, not necessarily great power, but as much as the speaker is capable of. In complex trains of thought signs are indispensable. Insight is the first condition of Art. Insincerity is always weakness; sincerity even in error is strength. It is unhappily true that much insincere Literature and Art, executed solely with a view to effect, does succeed by deceiving the public. Language, after all, is only the use of symbols, and Art also can only affect us through symbols. Literature delivers tidings of the world within and the world without. Literature is at once the cause and the effect of social progress.
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